


The Royal Prisoner

by oniKTA



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-09-01 01:21:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8601634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oniKTA/pseuds/oniKTA
Summary: Chara awakens to find another human has fallen down as well.





	1. Fallen

Brown eyes flickered open in an instant, their owner shooting up from their resting spot. They ignored the mild soreness in their back thanks to the grey dirt floor below them and slowly got themselves up to their two feet.

“Interesting.” Chara remarked quietly, their chocolate colored eyes narrowed. They had been expecting to awaken in their bed in New Home to the scent of their mother’s snail pie being cooked in the kitchen or their brother’s persistent shaking to wake them up. Instead, they found themselves in a completely different and barren area.

They dusted off their black shorts and glared at the few holes that developed on their dark brown tights, showing off tiny fresh gashes and cuts. _Mild injuries._  They concluded and didn’t give it a second look. Around them were four stone pillars that looked absolutely ancient, which caused their eyes to narrow even further. This area seemed so familiar to them but they just couldn’t place their finger on it.

Chara walked a bit forward and the soles of their short black boots were greeted by something soft as opposed to the rough floor they had been laying on just seconds ago. Their eyes darted down and were widened at what they were faced with. It was not the golden flowers that were so burned into their memory of when they had attempted something such a long time ago, but it was a smaller human child lying down face first in them.

Their hand instantly went to their pocket, feeling for their blade they always kept around for tough weeds and vines. This time it will see a different use as they drew out the knife and took a couple steps back from the human. Seconds turned into minutes as Chara kept a stern eye on the human with their knife drawn out.

They knew the human was not dead since they saw the barely noticeable breathing patterns coming from their blue, dirtied sweater. Chara slowly approached the human and used one cautious hand to reach out to their shoulder. They turned over the human on their back and expected a sudden sneak attack, but in the end they were shown that the human was simply unconscious.

Chara clicked their tongue and placed their knife back into their pocket. They tilted their head and leaned a bit closer to further examine the human. Their scar covered fingers softly felt around the human’s face and pushed aside a mess of dark brown hair that had been covering their eyes. Chara’s eyes caught the wet trail on the edge of the human’s eye. The human had been crying.

“You do not seem to pose a threat. While you are asleep that is.” Chara spoke to the human as if they could respond. “You would be dead where you lay it weren’t for these golden flowers that have broken your fall.”

Their hardened eyes faltered a bit as something in the chest felt painful for a mere second. Something about this seemed clearly familiar as their gaze went upon the fallen human and slowly up to the bright hole ways above.

They had fallen in a similar manner to themselves years ago.

“I am curious to know what your reason for falling was.” Chara muttered.

Further looking over the human revealed they too were a child, just a few years younger than them. They had much darker skin, messier brown hair, a dirtied blue sweater under a set of brighter blue overalls that had two pink stripes as its design. Their black tights were ripped beyond belief and their brown boots were not a pretty sight as well.

“You are rather cute though.” They said without thinking. Their lips curled into a frown when they realized what they had said and they pulled out their knife again, holding it up to the child’s throat in seconds. “But humans are the enemy. No matter how innocent you may look, child, I will not let you wander into the territory of my subjects and harm them...”

Their mind was practically screaming to slice the human’s throat quickly and get it over with, but something else in them stirred them the other way. Chara’s eyes kept glancing down at the unconscious human and back to the hole above. More seconds turned into minutes and they let out a sharp groan as they placed their blade away.

“If only I had lacked sympathy.” Chara grumbled, trying to come up with an excuse for themselves why they hadn’t killed the human yet. “I do not believe I should kill you. Yet. Home is a very long distance away from New Home and I would rather not carry your soul all the way there. Other monsters may try to take it or it may falter and shatter.”

Chara stood up, their brown eyes glaring at the human below them. “Here is what I shall do, human. You are my prisoner now and I will deliver you to the Capital to my family to see to it what shall be done with you. I have overheard my father speaking with the Royal Scientist about human souls, perhaps you shall be our first candidate?”

_Perfect excuse._ Chara mentally whispered with a wicked grin at the thought of dropping this child to the front door of that tall skeleton doctor and having him deal with this problem instead of them. Said grin soon faded away once they realized they had to carry the child. They would much rather drag them, but balance and the use of a single arm sounded rather annoying.

“I assume it shall be a decent workout.” They said as they picked up the human and carried them on their back. It was a vulnerable spot, but as soon as the human awakened Chara already had a plan formulated which involved immediately dropping the human and summoning enough magic down to keep them restrained.

“Perhaps you are comfortable enough now.” Chara said through their teeth, not knowing why they felt so caring to this particular human. “Shall we?” They didn’t expect an answer back and began to walk forward.

Chara and their ‘hostage’ passed by a lonely lit patch of grass after entering through the large doorway. Chara didn’t give much thought into it and pressed forward into the next doorway.


	2. Frisk

Chara had guessed correct after all, they were in the small city of Home. The purple stone architecture was not something to forget. They noticed a rather simple puzzle before them, a small grin forming on their lips at the sight of it. Not because of how easy it looked but how the puzzle hadn’t changed one bit since they last saw it. Monsters will always be the most intriguing bunch.

They adjusted their hold on the blue sweatered child on their back and solved the puzzle instantly. Gears shifted and the door opened up, allowing them passage through. The Ruins seemed very quiet, something that Chara found quite odd. They glanced around and found no sight of a single monster wandering about.

After some time spent walking and solving puzzles, Chara passed by a lone training dummy. They had stories before of ghost monsters inhabiting items such as these and hoped on their luck there was one possessing this dummy.

“Greetings.” Chara nodded towards the dummy. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem much for conversation. Their brown eyes rolled and they walked off to continue onto the path. Now they felt like the dumb one.

There was a lone Froggit wandering down the path and Chara’s eyes lit up almost instantly. They held tighter onto the child on their back and ran as fast as they could to catch up to the monster. Once they had caught up the Froggit was visibly frightened at the sudden appearance of a much taller figure.

“R-Ribbit. _(H-Hello.)_ ” The Froggit croaked out.

Chara had a reassuring smile towards their subject. “Greetings. I apologize for the scare, I was simply excited to see another monster. But I cannot waste time for I am in a bit of a rush to get to the Capital as soon as possible.”

“Ribbit? _(And why is that?)_ ”

“I have a very important... “ Chara glanced back behind them to the still unconscious human. “... _package_ to deliver. The exits have not changed, correct?” They asked curiously.

“Ribbit, ribbit. _(Nothing too major, but what used to be the previous King and Queen’s home is being renovated last I heard.)_ ”

This certainly struck something within Chara. _Why was our old home being renovated?_ They attempted to ease their worrying thoughts with another quick excuse. “Perhaps they are finally renting the place out…” They said under their breath with a now see through smile. “Hold on a moment, did you say… _previous_ King and Queen?”

“Ribbit…? _(Yes…?)_ ”

Something definitely was wrong now. They had no time for questions and knew they had to rush to New Home as quick as possible. They broke out into a sprint and left the confused Froggit behind. An unending supply of questions and worrying thoughts ravished within Chara’s head, but they still tried to find excuses for each and everyone of them.

_Why didn’t that Froggit recognize me as a child of the Dreemur family?_

_That Froggit looked rather old anyway, perhaps their memory was faltering, right?_

_But what if something truly did happen to mother and father?_

_And what of Asriel?_

_I-I cannot know for sure until I arrive there._

Chara was sprinting through the Ruins now, they would have stopped for every monster they passed by to greet them but they had no time. After entering a more closed in hallway with a single pile of dead red leaves in the middle, Chara was beginning to tire out. It suddenly felt like this child was much more heavier than earlier. They broke back into a jog and finally into a full on stop.

“That ... is it…” Chara said in between breaths, simply releasing the human on their back to let them fall on the ground. Something immediately shocked them, something that sounded like a small voice yelping in pain. They slowly turned around to see the human was awake now and rubbing the back of their head.

_No, no, no, no! I do not have time for this!_

Chara unleashed their magic and summoned a few glowing magical red knives above the child, immediately breaking them out of their thoughts.

“Do not move a single inch or all of these blades shall pierce you in an instant.” Chara growled at the human, who looked frightened now. “Now tell me, human, how long were you awake?”

The human hadn’t responded first, they didn’t even look like they were fully awake. Their scarlet colored eyes darted around their area and then back down onto their bandaged covered fingers. “I-I’m… alive…? They whispered in a tiny, breaking voice. Tears threatened to burst from the edges of their eyes once again and Chara noticed this quick.

“You shall be the exact opposite of alive if you do not answer my question within the next second.”

This prompted the child to meet eyes with the older human again. “I-I… I was waking up when you started pressing the buttons on the ground.”

Chara had an expression roll across their face, one that almost looked offended. “And why didn’t you inform me you were awake?”

 “I…” The child muttered, trying to wipe away some tears. “I was comfy.”

Chara’s shoulders nearly dropped and their brown eyes narrowed at the human. _I should just let my magic eradicate them right now._ “Let me guess, you felt _safe_? You felt comfortable in my arms? You simply were all over being in such a warm grasp?” They asked in a mocking voice.

“I... uh... y-yes.” The child answered again with a slight blush, not meeting the eyes of the older child.

Chara bit down their bottom lip immediately at the answer. They felt a burning feeling come across their cheeks and in response, they shot their hands to the side and sent their knives to strike themselves into the purple stone walls. The child let out a shudder at the sight of that and didn’t notice Chara running for them.

The older child made a grab for the smaller one’s collar of their blue sweater and lifted them up. “Do not believe for one second that your... _trickery_ shall fool a child of the Royal Family!” Chara shouted at them as they shook them violently.

“Y-You’re royalty?” The child asked with a nervous smile. “I-Is that why... you look like a princess?”

Chara would have chucked the human towards the wall and stomped away in anger, but their face was pure red at this point. “Do not refer to me as a princess nor a prince!” They argued back, completely forgetting where the conversation was supposed to go.

A much more mischievous smile came across the child’s lips. “Then how about ‘Your Majesty?’”

Chara was just about to let out a scream if it weren’t for a ghost monster wearing headphones suddenly drifted to their side. The child they were holding looked visibly shocked at the sudden appearance of the monster but Chara attempted to regain their composure to speak with their subject. “Greetings. I am Chara.”

“ _oh...... hello......... didn’t think you’d notice me………_ ” The ghost responded shyly, not making eye contact with either of the humans. “ _sorry.......... you two looked like you were having fun… i was just passing by i didn't mean to interrupt…… oh no…_ ”

“It’s okay.” The blue sweatered child reassured the ghost with a very patient smile, earning them a sharp glare from Chara.

“Do not pester them, they seem frightened enough from the _antics_ you have pulled.” Chara berated with a frown. They cleared their throat and faced the ghost again. “Apologies, this… _thing_ … I am taking hold of needs to be delivered to the Capital. I mustn’t run into any distractions but please pardon me for interrupting your stroll."

The mention of being referred to as a ‘thing’ prompted the child to pout at Chara.

“ _um........ it’s okay……… you weren’t really bothering anyone.......... but good luck on your trip…… i'll get out of your way now..........._ ” The ghost said and continued to wander off.

“They seemed nice.” The child pointed out as they watched the ghost disappear from sight. They were dropped by Chara and they hit the floor with their bottom.

“Get up.” Chara ordered, summoning a magic blade near the face of the child. “You are still my prisoner and now that you are very much awake and capable of making… _interesting remarks_ … you shall walk on your own.”

A nervous smile returned back on the child’s lips, but it wasn’t from the blade they were looking directly into. “But it was nice being carried by you...” They backed up almost immediately when the knife came much more closer to their forehead. “Okay, okay! I’m sorry…” They apologized as they scrambled to pick themselves up.

The knife disappeared and Chara began to walk off back to the path. “Let us move, we are wasting precious time.”

“Well nice to meet you too…” The child said with a mild frown. “My name is Frisk, by the way.”

“Congratulations. Now will you hurry?”

Frisk’s brows furrowed and they did a quick jog to catch up with the much taller child. They finally caught up with Chara and stepped up to their side, not at first realizing a real knife was held to their throat again.

“Refrain from being so close to me.” Chara growled, keeping their eyes pinned on Frisk until they had taken a few steps aside.

“I-I’m sorry…” Frisk whispered, their hands clasping together to stop them from shaking.

Chara didn’t respond and continued walking down the path with their prisoner. Their brown eyes caught sight of another room and they entered it with the smaller child following as close as they were allowed to.

“Let me explain some things, human.” Chara began, their eyes on a set of spider webs surrounded by boxes of sweets. “You are in the Underground, where the Kingdom of Monsters reside within after being trapped by you horrid _humans_.” They spat when they said the last word.

“Before you give yourself the absolute insane idea of harming any of my subjects here, know this…” Chara said as they faced Frisk and stared them down menacingly. “Monsters are the most kindest creatures one can ever meet. They would have never started that damn war in the first place if it was not for humans. If I catch you attempting to hurt my people, then I shall waste not a single moment in beheading you.”

Frisk felt a cold sweat pass through them and they nodded fearfully. Chara seemed impressed with the response and turned right around to crouch down before the spider webs. Frisk curiously watched as the older child fished within their pocket and pulled out a handful of gold pieces.

“Be grateful that I am buying a meal enough for the both of us.” Chara said as the gold pieces were taken away by spiders and in return the tiny monsters brought back two donuts and two ciders. “Many thanks.” They nodded to the spiders and stood back up on their feet.

Frisk felt a rumble within their stomach as soon as their ruby eyes took notice to the sweet smelling donut and cider being brought to them. “T-Thank you… you didn’t have to.” They said as they reached out to the snacks that were immediately pulled away from them.

Chara raised a brow at the child’s now betrayed expression. “Oh, if you say so, then I shall take these all for myself.” They said and turned around.

“W-Wait, no, I… I’m just not used to people being so nice to me.” Frisk said in an even quieter voice.

Chara let out a quiet sigh and with a roll of their eyes they turned around and pushed the donut to Frisk’s mouth. The child was quick to open their mouth and hold the donut still as they used two hands to hold the cold cider given to them.

“As comedic as that would have been, I need you to have energy. It shall be a long trip to the castle.” They explained as they took a bite into their own spider donut. “And you are welcome, human.”

“Thank you… Chara, right?” Frisk asked, taking small bites into their donut.

Chara hummed a confirmation and they walked out of the spider bakery with Frisk following behind.

Frisk was glad their bangs were long enough to cover half their scarlet eyes, they hadn’t wanted the older child to notice them crying again. Crying tears of happiness, that is.


	3. Home

Chara set their scarred hands on the surface of the smooth purple balcony overlooking the city of Home. Their expression looked solemn, as opposed to Frisk who stepped right next to them and had a much more of a childlike admiration to their expression.

“Wow…” Frisk said under their breath, darting their scarlet eyes over to their companion. “This is the kingdom you rule over?”

“Home is merely a single section of an entire kingdom, child.” Chara answered, their expression not changing nor did they meet the other child’s eyes. “And I do not rule over the kingdom, not yet anyway.” They continued and felt a tinge in their heart at the thought of their mother and father passing on the crowns to them and their brother. The weight of responsibility was far too much to even fathom.

Frisk frowned a bit from seeing Chara’s sudden quiet nature. Their eyes glanced down at Chara’s hand and saw the tiny but multiple scars that lined all over their fingers. It almost mirrored Frisk’s own fingers, albeit their’s was covered up with a set of colorful and cartoon bandages. They directed their gaze once more towards the city one more time in silent awe.

Chara stepped away from the balcony and something had bumped into their boot. Looking down their brown eyes caught sight of what appeared to be a discarded, dirtied knife. Upon closer inspection it was actually a plastic toy knife. _It was almost as if it was another child’s toy..._

“Garbage, most likely.” Chara discarded the thought with another excuse.

“What was that?” Frisk asked as they turned around curiously.

“Nothing to concern yourself over.” Chara said as they stood back up and began walking towards the doorway. “Come along, my old home is just right around the corner.”

 ---

Chara and Frisk were faced with a towering dead tree with a pile of red leaves sitting below it. The much taller and older of the two laid their hand on the body of the tree, another solemn look taking over their face. Frisk was going to ask what was wrong again until the sound of a hammer pounding caught both of their attention.

Chara’s mouth went slightly agape at what they had seen. There were construction worker monsters surrounding their old home carrying all sorts of tools or working on rebuilding some sections of the house that appeared to have deteriorated from old age.

Frisk was confused at first and didn’t have time to ask as Chara began stomping over towards the construction workers with their hands balled up tight. “Chara, wait! They might not let us in!”

“I am a child of the Royal Family, they _will_  listen to me no matter what.” Chara responded without turning around or stopping.

Without anything else to say, Frisk’s brows furrowed and they ran ahead to catch up with their companion.

A tall but lanky spider monster took notice to the two children and he raised four palms right in front of them. “Whoa there, this place is under construction.” He said as he shot four thumbs behind him at Chara’s old home. "You kids gotta turn around."

“I understand this but I used to live in this home and I simply wish to take a look inside it one more time.” Chara said sternly, their chocolate brown eyes focusing on at least one of the spider monster’s set of eyes.

“Well, if you put it that way, I guess I can…” The monster said a bit unsurely. “There isn’t much left though, most of the things are already boxed up and getting ready to be sent towards charity.”

“I shall be quick.” Chara added on. “Besides, me and my…” They gazed over at Frisk, still unsure of what to call them. “My… servant… are attempting to reach New Home and the path that leads to Snowdin is the one and only exit.”

Frisk kept quiet but their ruby eyes squinted hard at Chara with a pouty expression.

The spider let out a low sigh and stepped out of the way. “Alright kid. Go on ahead.”

Chara nodded, a fake smile forming on their lips. “Thank you.” And with that they strode forward with Frisk still trailing behind, glancing all around the construction workers that were far too busy in their work to even notice the two children.

Home was still just as bright inside as they had remembered, but no amount of lights can make up for the fact it felt so empty. The dozens of boxes that lined the walls hadn't helped either nor did the multiple damages and works in progress across the house. Chara stood in the middle of the home not uttering a single word. Their expression was practically as soulless as this house they had called home was. Like a wandering soul they slowly drifted towards the right and down a hallway. Frisk continued to follow even as Chara opened a door into one of the first rooms within the hallway.

Frisk’s fingers carefully wrapped around the golden doorknob and quietly opened it. Chara’s back was towards them as they were staring at a picture frame in their hand.

“Chara…?” Frisk whispered with concern. They spotted their companion’s hands shaking as they held the picture frame. “Chara, are you okay?”

"Of. course. I. am.” Chara obviously lied through their teeth. 

"I was just checking on--"

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME, YOU USELESS CHILD?!" Chara suddenly screamed at Frisk, causing them to flinch back hard. 

It felt like a knife stabbed right through their heart when Chara had called them useless. “I…” Frisk was near speechless now, tears were attempting to push themselves out of the edges of their eyes but they held on. Chara, on the other hand had already given up holding them back as there were already tears running down their pale cheeks. “Chara, p-please, I just--”

“JUST GET OUT!” They shouted with even more anger. Frisk half expected them to summon more knives but the watery brown eyes staring right at them were enough to pierce their heart.

“Sorry--” Frisk said under their breath and walked out of the room, shutting the door as quietly as they could. They remained outside with their hand still gripping the doorknob and their head pressed up against the door. All they heard was the sound of Chara sobbing quietly.

Frisk released their hand on the knob and they backed away from the door. They wiped the tears that formed on their eyes with their sleeve as they slowly sank down to their bottom. They sat with their back against the wall and they hugged their knees, staring at the door and listening to Chara cry.

After what felt like an hour Frisk slowly decided to pick themselves back up. The sound of sobbing had stopped but they still were unsure if they had wanted to check on Chara after their outburst. Frisk dusted themselves off, nearly putting themselves into a coughing fit. They hadn’t realized just how dusty the home was until they really sat down.

Frisk wandered out of the hallway and began to explore more of the abandoned home. They found a living room with a dining table put off the the side and a fireplace without anything in it. There were also a number of packaged large boxes set neatly aside marked ‘CHARITY.’ What really caught their attention was the large but soft looking reading chair right next to the fireplace. They approached it slowly and pressed their hand on the cushion, feeling even more dust on it. The size of the chair was enough to swallow them whole so they walked off and past the dining table. The plant that was centered in the middle of the table had been long since dead now, prompting a small frown from the child.

Frisk eventually found their way into the kitchen, or what had used to be one. The walls were torn apart and slowly being rebuilt. There were evidence of a stove and a working sink that were only memories now as they had been taken away to who know’s where. An unorganized mess of power tools laid across the countertops, most likely left by the construction workers. Frisk did notice however that the refrigerator was still running and they opened it gingerly. There were mostly beers, sandwiches, crumpled paper bags and water bottles inside it. Though one certain item caught the child’s ruby colored eyes - an unopened chocolate bar. They carefully moved multiple beer bottles out of the way to retrieve the treat.

As their hands felt around the cold chocolate bar they wondered if it had belonged to one of the workers. _It’s not like they’d be missing this, right?_ They thought and smiled to themselves with only one goal in mind. Give the chocolate bar to Chara as a token of their apology and to make them feel better. With that in mind, Frisk closed the fridge and made their way back to the hallway.

\---

  
Frisk took in a deep breath and knocked twice on the door. “Chara? It’s me, Frisk.”

The sound of ruffling was heard from behind the door and the other child eventually answered. “Enter.”

They hid the treat behind their back and with one hand they slowly let themself in. Chara wasn’t crying anymore but was instead going through the closet with a green hoodie draped across their arm.

“Home and New Home have the most acceptable climates of the entire Underground. Unfortunately everything between them is the complete opposite of acceptable. Snowdin for example, which is up next, is freezing cold.” Chara spoke without even offering a glance back at Frisk. “I have already taken the liberty of picking you out some warm clothes so be sure to bundle up, for what we are currently wearing will most likely get us killed from frostbite out there.”

Frisk looked down at their thin blue sweater, overalls, ripped leggings and boots. Chara’s wasn’t any better, they had a green sweater vest with a single yellow stripe over a short sleeved black button up with shorts, tights and boots. Frisk gazed over at the bed and saw an assortment of clothes Chara had set out for the both of them.

“The blue winter coat should be enough, forgive me if it ends up a bit big on you for it had belonged to my brother.” Chara said as they closed the closet and set down the green hoodie on the bed. “The pink scarf belonged to my mother and the leggings were mine, but they do not fit me anymore so you are free to wear them.”

“Thank you.” Frisk said, mustering up their warmest smile for Chara who still hadn’t even looked at them. Were they feeling guilty that they had yelled and called them useless earlier?

“Take good care of these clothes, understand? It may not be much but it ha--” A certain scent caught Chara’s nose and they immediately dropped everything they had been thinking about. They slowly turned towards Frisk, who was holding out a chocolate bar - _their chocolate bar_ \- to them. “Is that…?”

Frisk nodded. “I thought it’d make you feel better.” They pushed the bar to Chara’s hands. “Take it.”

“I… I do not know what to say.” Chara said slowly, having looked down at the chocolate bar before meeting eyes with Frisk.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Frisk assured gently, slowly taking a soft hold on one of Chara’s hands and guided them to the bed to sit together. “I’m sorry for pestering you, I didn’t know--”

“No, no.” Chara cut them off. “If there is any one who should be apologizing it should be me. I regret lashing out on you like that… I just…” They looked back down, unable to stare back into the scarlet eyes that focused on them. “I lost myself for a moment there. And... you are not useless. Please forgive me for...”  _They won't ever forgive me. No, I do not deserve their kindness. I never did and I--_

“I forgive you." Frisk whispered softly, catching Chara completely off guard. "And it's okay... don’t worry, it happens to the best of us." They reassured. "But that is why we have people guide us back to the right path when we lose ourselves, right?” 

For the first time in the short time they spent together, Chara smiled back at Frisk. “Thank you, Frisk…” They said quietly. They realized they were both still holding hands and they slowly released each other, letting off embarrassed giggles together.

Chara opened up the wrapper and gripped both of their hands on both ends of the chocolate bar, slightly struggling at first until it snapped in two near even pieces.

“You’re strong.” Frisk complimented, their ruby eyes having never left Chara for one second.

Chara shrugged and flexed one arm. “I do not wish to brag but…” They both shared another laugh from that and Chara scooted over closer to Frisk unknowingly to hand them their share of the chocolate. They sat together and enjoyed their snack in peaceful, comfortable silence.

 ---

Frisk stood with a pouty expression as they were being dressed up by another person. “I’m old enough to put on my own clothes you know…” They playfully whined.

“Nonsense. These clothing articles are very special and require care.” Chara explained with a smug smirk as they zipped up the blue coat. They wrapped the pink scarf that had belonged to their mother around Frisk’s head. Since it had belonged to such a tall monster, the scarf was enough to overtake most of the shorter child’s head. “I believe that is a good look on you.”

“Very funny.” Frisk said, muffled as they were practically buried in the scarf. They attempted to fix the scarf themselves while Chara slid a burgundy turtleneck over their tops and then the green hoodie around it. They traded their shorts and short boots in for a pair of fitted black jeans and much longer burgundy boots.

Chara stuffed their discarded clothes into a small backpack that was also stored with a few water bottles and sandwiches (stolen from the refrigerator of course) and a picture frame of their family. They tossed another small backpack to Frisk, who caught it just in time after regaining their sight.

Frisk looked within the contents of their backpack and found food and water as well. Their ripped leggings were tossed away into the trash as they had took in Chara’s old ones for their own. They slid on pairs of warm gloves, Frisk had pink and Chara had burgundy. They were both finally ready for the upcoming cold and they walked together out of the room. Chara took one long last look into the room they had shared with their brother and they shut the lights before closing the door.

“Continue on ahead downstairs and through the basement, I shall catch up.” Chara told Frisk.

“Okay, but don’t you go running off on me!” Frisk playfully warned with a smile.

“Giving me orders now? Since when were you the one in control?” Chara responded, another grin forming on their lips .

“I just don’t like being called a _servant_.” Frisk stuck their tongue out and walked off, leaving Chara to their own thoughts again.

With one last tour, Chara entered their mother and father’s rooms. Their mother’s room still had the large bed they had always crawled into whenever they had a horrid nightmare. The bookshelf remained but the books were all being piled into a box right near it. Their father’s room however was nearly done being cleared out, all that was left were a set of gardening tools and a lone golden flower inside a pot. They exited their father's old room and glanced at the mirror, staring into their own eyes for a moment. They hadn't realized just how _tired_ they looked until now. Chara's eyes lowered but looking around one more time at their home gave them a small. Soon they left to catch up with their new friend.

Frisk had been waiting for Chara and once they linked up once more they entered through the large doors, both of them taking one side and pushing with most of their strength. They passed by another lonely patch of grass strangely lit up by an unknown light and together they stepped through another set of tall double doors.

\--- 

The cold hit the two children almost instantly but thankfully there was no a sign of snowfall or a hard wind that would've made it much worse. They were faced with a long narrow path surrounded by imposing, dead trees that seemed to reach all the way up to the sky.

Chara took notice to Frisk immediately shivering and they let out a sigh. “Hold my hand.”

“R-Really?” Frisk asked with a blush, surprised.

“If you do not wish to freeze, yes really. So take hold of my hand unless you want your fingers to fall off.” Chara further insisted with a raised brow. Though their cold exterior remained, the burning feeling in their chest said otherwise.

The two took each others’ gloved hands and walked together. They took notice to a crudely built wooden sign and came closer to read what it had to say.

_(HELLO TO ANY AND ALL PASSING MONSTERS COMING FROM THE RUINS!!! THE LOVABLE SMALL TOWN OF SNOWDIN IS NOT TOO FAR FROM HERE, STAY STRONG AND CARRY ON AND YOU SHALL REACH YOUR DESTINATION FULL OF TENDER LOVING CARE AND A CHANCE TO MEET THE BRILLIANT PAPYRUS!!! - WHOM I HEAR IS A VERY HANDSOME SKELETON AND AN AMAZING SCIENTIST!!!)_

_(I, A COOL SKELETON, BUT NOT AS COOL AS THAT OH SO FANTASTIC PAPYRUS, AGREES AS WELL!!!)_

_(* me too. he’s the coolest. he gets it from all this snow.)_

_(SANS, PLEASE DO NOT DEFACE MY COOL WELCOME SIGN!)_

_(* ok.)_

_(SANS, YOU ARE STILL WRITING ON IT!)_

_(* you said not to deface it so i’m writing on it now.)_

The rest of the words were cut off by the bottom of the sign but what can be seen from it pointed out that the one who wrote in big large letters began to oddly write out their screaming. Strangely enough, there was a plate of hot dogs right below the sign, unfortunately it was half buried in snow with a note on it saying: _(PLEASE ENJOY!!!)_ Chara and Frisk looked at one another with confused looks and proceeded on downwards to the path.

“How is Snowdin?” Frisk asked, for the eerie and silent woods were beginning to creep them out. Even the strange sign hadn’t helped this settling sense of fear.

“It is very cozy and friendly. All the locals are absolute sweethearts. I would not live here though, for I am not the biggest fan of the everlasting cold.” Chara answered, using their free hand to pull the hood over most of their head to protect their ears. Their brown eyes glanced down at a large branch on the ground for a second as they passed by.

The only sound in the entire area was their boots crunching up against the snow. That was until the sound of a branch snapping in two suddenly echoed loud throughout the path, shocking the two out of their state of minds and causing them to turn around. Chara held a protective arm out behind Frisk, their gaze darting all around the area to find whomever had broken the branch. They were faced with nothing and after a few seconds they grabbed Frisk’s hand again and began to walk faster down the path. “Let us hurry.”

“O-Okay.” Frisk stuttered, trying to hold in their fear. They completely lost hold when the sound of something falling down followed by an intimidating growling were heard in the distance. “C-Chara, something is following us.”

Chara hadn’t answered and kept looking back behind them for whatever had been making the noises only to find nothing each and everytime. Panic slowly began to settle in and they gripped Frisk’s hand even tighter and practically began to jog with the smaller child in tow. “Come on, Frisk!”

“I’m trying, but your legs are too long!” Frisk protested back with their eyes shut tight.

Chara began to stop in their tracks when they were faced with a lone bridge blocked off by what appeared to be an impassable gate of metal bars. “Damn it!” They cursed and held Frisk protectively in both arms now as they came into a full stop.

Before Frisk could say something back, very rapid footsteps began to rush towards their backs and before they could even properly react…

"HELLO YOUNG TRAVELLERS!" A very, _very_ loud voice practically shouted in their ears, causing both of them to hug each other tight and let out the loudest screams possible.


	4. Scientist

“AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”

“AAAHHH!-- _WHY ARE WE SCREAMING--_ AHHHHH!”

The three slowly stopped themselves from screaming and once it had died down Frisk and Chara took this chance to get a good look on whoever this mysterious and incredibly loud person was.

It was a very tall skeleton monster that practically towered right over the two human children. The skeleton was dressed in an open light orange lab coat over a simple red orange sweater, black pants with big red gloves and boots. A large red scarf that was slightly damaged hung over his neck and flowed all the way down to his back much like a cape. Despite being of intimidating stature and resembling a literal skeleton, he somehow had a very friendly expression on him and his eyes had two tiny orange glowing lights centered in both of them that acted like pupils. In his hands however, was a small white Pomeranian dog with a strange looking dog collar.

“OH, RIGHT! WHERE ARE MY MANNERS?” The skeleton slightly berated himself and then cleared his throat(?) before speaking again. “I AM THE BRILLIANT PAPYRUS, SNOWDIN’S MOST CUNNING AND INTELLIGENT SCIENTIST AND PUZZLE EXTRAORDINAIRE!” He then lifted up the dog right in front of the two children. “AND THIS... IS MY DOG! SNOWDIN’S 10TH MOST INTERESTING DOG! _(BUT HE IS IN 1ST PLACE IN MY BOOK…)_ ”

Before Frisk and Chara could even respond the dog barked and it somehow let a much more savage monstrous bark… which had emitted from a tiny speaker on its collar. This had caused Frisk to jump a bit and hold onto Chara tighter.

“SORRY FOR THE SCARE, I WAS OUT HERE JUST TESTING OUT A FEW OF MY EXPERIMENTS! LIKE FOR EXAMPLE MY ‘MAKE-MY-DOG-SOUND-MORE-TOUGH’ COLLAR! ALSO A BRANCH THAT ACTED AS MY ASSISTANT BUT IT HAD ACCIDENTALLY BEEN STEPPED ON BY YOUR’S TRULY.” Papyrus turned around briefly and waved to the broken branch. “SORRY FOR THAT BRANCH! I SHALL SEND MY CONDOLENCES TO ALL YOUR TWIG CHILDREN!”

“Uhh…” Chara attempted to speak out again, they were still at lost for words.

“SAY… YOU TWO LOOK VERY FULL OF LIMBS AND NON-BRANCHY!” Papyrus pointed out with hopeful eyes. “WOULD YOU BOTH WANT TO BE MY BRAND NEW ASSISTANTS? I PROMISE I WON’T ACCIDENTALLY STEP ON YOU!”

Chara cleared their throat and began to speak. “Apologies, erm, Papyrus. But we do not have time--”

“Of course!” Frisk agreed gleefully, not noticing Chara’s neutral expression suddenly breaking into a slightly shocked one.

Papyrus somehow gasped in surprise and he held one red gloved hand over his mouth. “WOWIE! NO ONE THAT WAS ABLE TO SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES EVER AGREED TO BE MY ASSISTANTS BEFORE!”

“Hm. I wonder why.” Chara murmured sarcastically with a roll of their brown eyes.

“I WOULD ASK MY BROTHER SANS TO BE MY ASSISTANT, BUT HE IS FAR TOO BUSY IN HIS OWN WORK.” The skeleton scientist said. “AND BY 'OWN WORK' I MEAN THAT LAZYBONES WOULD RATHER HANG AROUND LAZILY AT HIS STATION!” He shouted with mild annoyance until something caught his eye. “HMM… I BELIEVE MY DEAR BROTHER IS UP AHEAD. ASSISTANTS! FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS, WE SHALL WALK UP TO MY BROTHER AND... TELL HIM TO GET BACK TO WORK! AGREED?”

“We really should be going…” Chara tried to explain again.

“Okay!” Frisk bounced, they haven’t felt this excited in quite a while.

“EXCELLENT!” Papyrus laughed and practically stepped over the two children as he led them towards the gate. “OH YES, THIS. IT IS MERELY A HOLOGRAM, SO WE CAN STEP RIGHT THROUGH IT! MY BROTHER WAS FAR TOO LAZY TO ACTUALLY BUILD A GATE.” He explained and walked right through the gate which now buzzed out of sight. “SEE?”

Frisk gasped in surprised and looked over at Chara to see if they had shared the same sense of excitement. They didn’t. Nonetheless, Frisk grabbed Chara’s hand and guided them to follow the tall skeleton. Chara was just going to tell Frisk that they both had no time for this until they both bumped into the back of Papyrus.

“SORRY ASSISTANTS, OUR FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS MUST BE POSTPONED FOR NOW.” Papyrus explained, squinting at a wooden station with a snow covered roof. “I SWEAR I HAD SEEN MY BROTHER SITTING HERE JUST A MERE PAPYRUS-SECOND AGO!”

“A _Papyrus_ -second...?” Chara echoed with a raised brow.

“YES, I NAMED THE FASTEST MEASUREMENT OF TIME IN THE HISTORY OF TIME AFTER MYSELF! IT IS QUITE FITTING, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF!” He said joyfully then turned back around to look around the post his brother had supposedly been in. “SANS? DID YOU DISAPPEAR INTO TIME AND SPACE AGAIN? I HATE IT WHEN YOU DO THAT!”

“Frisk, perhaps while he is distracted with looking for his imaginary brother we can continue on towards our destination.” Chara suggested rather coldly.

Frisk tilted their head in confusion. “But we’re his assistants, we gotta help him!”

“I must have missed when we had went through a proper application process.” Chara said sarcastically, causing Frisk to give them a mild glare.

“ASSISTANTS!” Papyrus suddenly appeared right to their side, slightly startling them both. “MY BROTHER IS MISSING, PERHAPS HE IS BOONDOGGLING OR ACTUALLY DOING SOME WORK FOR ONCE! FOR HIS SAKE, IT HAD BETTER BE THE LATTER! I WILL GO ON AHEAD TO SEARCH FOR HIM!” He turned on his heel and raised his dog high in the air as he readied himself into a runner stance. “THE BRILLIANT PAPYRUS WILL SEE YOU BOTH UP AHEAD!”

With one step forward the skeleton kicked back a large cloud of snow in the direction of the two children, who had to jump out of the way to avoid being encased in it. Papyrus was already ways ahead before they even knew it.

“Are you okay, Chara?” Frisk asked as they helped up their companion and dusted some bits of snow off their pants.

“I am quite alright, thank you.” Chara nodded and returned the favor by brushing off more stray snow on the younger child’s shoulder. “Now that he is gone, let us continue.”

“ **H u m a n s.** ” A deep sounding voice called to them suddenly. “ **D o n ' t  y o u  t w o  k n o w  h o w  t o  g r e e t  a  n e w  p a l  ?  C o m e  o n  o v e r  a n** \--”

“No. We are not dealing with this again. Let us get a move on, Frisk.” Chara insisted dryly and practically dragged Frisk along away from whomever had began speaking to them. Frisk hadn’t even had the chance to see who had said it as Chara covered their face with the pink scarf.

“... alright then.” The voice muttered, not sounding very bothered at the instant denial of the two children.

The owner of the voice stepped out from behind a conveniently shaped lamp that somehow was able to hide his entire form, revealing himself to be a more shorter skeleton dressed in a light blue lab coat over a blue hoodie, black soccer pants, and blue sneakers. His eyes were darkened pits until he blinked, revealing two light blue pupil lights in both of them. There was an unmoving grin over his skeletal face as he watched the two children from afar continue on.

After they had completely disappeared from view, he fished out what appeared to be a walkie talkie from his coat and he held it up to his skull. “k9 unit. be on the lookout for two humans. over.” He said rather monotonously. After he returned the walkie talkie he turned around and walked the opposite direction until he vanished out of sight as well with a strange electrical noise accompanying his disappearance.

\---

Boots crunched up against the snow as the two children made their way down the snowy path. There were large boot prints spaced out very far from each other that were followed immediately by tiny paw prints, which the two assumed to have belonged to Papyrus and his dog. The pair eventually passed by a similar sentry station to the one before, albeit this one was made completely by hand with metal parts. A neon sign that read _‘PAPYRUS’_ was placed at the top of it and further inspection inside the station revealed a neat stack of superhero comic books, a slightly uneven organization of of scientific books, a doggy bowl with extra dog food, a mini stove with an assortment of hot dogs and hot dog buns.

A few more paces down the path revealed another wooden station, the owner of it being unknown. “Smells like dog treats.” Chara remarked after taking one sniff at the air.

“Maybe it’s Papyru--” Frisk was interrupted when a low growling came from within the station, prompting Chara to stop them both in their tracks.

“Did something move?” A gritty voice demanded as it revealed itself to be a black and white dog monster smoking what appeared to be a dog treat. “Was it my imagination? I can _only_ see moving things…” His eyes darted around the area as he spat out his dog treat and hopped over the station’s desk.

Frisk eyed the two shining blades in both of the dog’s paws as he scanned the area around. Chara kept a firm defensive arm near Frisk just in case.

“If something was moving, for example… a human.” The dog bared his fangs threateningly and jumped forward, practically landing right in front of the two children. “Or _two_ … as that skeleton mentioned.”

 _That skeleton…?_ Chara echoed mentally, their auburn brows furrowing at the thought of that skeleton they had met earlier had been faking his innocent act and ratted them out.

“I’ll make sure those humans never moves again!” The dog barked out and the entire world blinked into darkness.

Frisk and Chara’s souls appeared right on their chests, both of the children having completely different reactions at this.

 _I do not believe I have educated the child on FIGHTs…_ Chara mentally realized and felt a sweat bead go down their neck. They could only tell from their peripheral vision that Frisk was frightened and confused but still trying to keep still in fear of the dog finding them both.

“Don’t move an inch!” The blade wielding canine ordered as his eyes shifted around suspiciously. He brought one of his blades back and swung at the air, summoning magic that appeared as a blue sword that made its way towards the two children.  
Chara practically felt Frisk tighten in fear and they felt guilty about it. Some guide they were if they had completely forgotten to teach their prisoner about the most basic of special attacks. Meanwhile, all of Frisk’s senses were telling them to run as fast as they could but seeing Chara stood their ground gave them some slight comfort and confidence. They were the only ones they could practically trust in the Underground and they seemed to know almost everything, it was better to follow their lead instead of going off on their own.

Frisk’s wide open scarlet eyes watched as the blue sword drew closer and closer. When the sword make contact, Frisk took in a sharp breath and quickly realized there was no pain at all. Their fear slowly eased down as they saw the dog walk closer to their position, looking rather annoyed he hadn’t found any humans at all. The dog turned around and the two children were out of his eyesight for a moment.

Chara wanted to grab Frisk and make a run for it, but realized the younger child’s hand was not in their’s but reaching for the dog’s head.

“WHAT!” The dog suddenly shouted out in surprise when Frisk barely brushed his head with their fingers. “I’VE BEEN PET?!” He jumped back into his station making a slight whining noise. “I-I’ve been pet by something that doesn’t move! I-I need more dog treats for this...”

Chara had their mouth slightly agape as the dog retreated back under the cover of his station. They then turned over to Frisk who looked rather proud of themself. They let out a heavy exhale and grabbed the child’s hand to continue walking forward.

“That was dangerous.” Chara pointed out, taking one more look behind them just in case the dog hadn’t tried following them again.

“That was funny.” Frisk interjected, still beaming at their companion.

The taller child pinched the bridge of their nose and let out another exhale. “Our usual excuse of explaining how I am a child of the Royal Family would have not worked on a monster that is unable to see, so please pardon my lack of assistance back there.”

“It’s okay, we still made it through with no scratches.” Frisk reassured as they began swinging their arm front to back with Chara.

“Yes, I suppose we have. But I really am guilty of not educating you properly on FIGHTs and all sorts of magic created by monsters. From now on, I shall be your informant so you are able to survive.” Chara stated.

“Like my… narrator?” Frisk suggested with a small grin.

“Uh, not quite.” Chara was far too caught up in their own thoughts and worries. They knew Frisk was not going to be always safe now and their own safety was possibly jeopardized now. They had to think of a way to reach their family much quicker without having to run into multiple monsters bent on attacking Frisk. _But why would they do this? Monsters are peaceful, they would have no reason to intentionally attack humans now._ They knew they had to find that skeleton, Papyrus, for they had a few specific questions for him…

\---

Papyrus perked up after hearing a familiar noise resonate from behind him. He stood up on his two feet and brushed the snow off his gloves, he had been apparently working on a puzzle. “THERE YOU ARE SANS! I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU!”

“what’s up to you too, bro.” Sans greeted. "did you see two humans come from the ruins?”

“OF COURSE I HAVE! I, THE BRILLIANT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS SO OBSERVANT. SO OBSERVANT I MIGHT AS WELL BE OMNIPRESENT.” Papyrus stated rather proudly.

“and you didn’t report it to me or the royal guards.” Sans questioned coldly, his grin not faltering one bit.

“I…” The younger skeleton lost his words for a moment before regaining them as quick as he could. “I WAS GOING TO… BUT THEY WERE NICE. EVEN THE TALLER ONE DESPITE THEIR MUCH MEANER FACIAL EXPRESSIONS! I COULD ALREADY TELL IF THEY WERE FRIENDS WITH THE SMALLER NICER ONE, THEY TOO HAD TO BE A GREAT PERSON AS WELL!”

“papyrus, this is a serious matter. it’s a human lurking the underground, two humans in fact.” The older brother pointed out and stepped a bit towards his taller younger sibling. “we already have 6 human souls. one more is all we need.”

Papyrus’ expression suddenly shifted rather sour. “AND WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO? THERE ARE TWO HUMANS, SANS. DO YOU REALLY WISH TO KILL ONE OF THEM AND SPARE THE OTHER, LEAVING THAT ONE COMPLETELY HEART BROKEN?”

“humans are still dangerous. it’d be better if we could just kill them both. actually, that’s a great idea. we can use the extra human soul for research and powering more of our creati--”

“SANS.” Papyrus cut him off. “I’M SORRY BUT… THERE… THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY RIGHT? WE ARE SCIENTISTS! WE CANNOT JUST RELY ON ONE METHOD TO PROVIDE THE FREEDOM OF OUR RACE, THERE ARE _INFINITE_ POSSIBILITIES! WE DO NOT HAVE TO KILL ANYMORE HUMANS!”

“it’s the easiest method, pap. and you know me, i always choose the easiest methods.” Sans admitted with a shrug.

“THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY TO BREAK THE BARRIER... THERE _WILL_ BE ANOTHER WAY AND I WILL FIND IT NO MATTER WHAT!” Papyrus retorted.  “AND FOR THE HUMANS, SANS? THEY WILL BE UNDER MY PROTECTION.”

Sans let out a low, fake sounding chuckle. “so you sayin’ you’re willing to betray all of your friends, family.”

“I’M WILLING TO BE THE BETTER AND BIGGER PERSON, THAT’S WHAT. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN THIS WAR BETWEEN HUMAN AND MONSTERS, I ONLY STRIVE TOWARDS PEACE. I MADE A PROMISE SANS…” Papyrus turned around and began walking away from his brother. “AND I _NEVER_ BREAK MY PROMISES.”

The remaining skeleton stood there, his unsettling smile and unblinking eyes remained for an uneasy amount of time. Another chuckle escaped from him and he shrugged, turning around again to take another shortcut out of sight.


	5. Determination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Frisk have a little talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait. here's a quick update, will try to get back on track soon.

After a brief talk about Blue Attacks with Papyrus, Chara led Frisk over a frozen pond towards a secluded path where there was only an empty and wide hill overlooking the rest of the land down below.

“I quite hope you at least _understand_ the gist of FIGHTs now.” Chara said aloud as they crouched down, taking a short rest. “That skeleton may be eccentric, but he knows what he is talking about.”

“Mhm.” Frisk responded, not even fully paying attention as they had begun walking around in circles pushing a slowly growing snowball.

The brown eyed child’s jaw slightly dropped at the sight. “And what are you doing now? I suggested we take a moment to ease ourselves and you are still moving around like an infant on a sugar rush."

“I’m making a snowman.” The other human pointed out matter-of-factly and continued their building. “It should make this little cliff here more friendly to anyone that passes by."

“Friendly. Right.” Chara grumbled and sprung themselves up on their feet. They walked towards Frisk and stopped them in their tracks with a hand over the forehead.

Before Frisk could even protest, Chara spoke again. “Let me show you how it is done, child.”

Within a few seconds, Chara was able to make Frisk’s sloppy, falling apart snowball into a near perfect shape. The younger human watched in wonder as their older companion was already creating the second snowball with ease. Deciding to at least help pitch in, Frisk wandered around to find stones and such to decorate the snowman.

After the snowman was finished, Chara stood in front of it with one eye closed and a thumbs up pointed forward - as if they were admiring an art piece. “Perfect.” They stated with a grin after Frisk added in the last of the stone buttons (though they were not exactly sure where the child found a carrot for the nose.)

“You did amazing.” Frisk complemented, circling the snowman curiously and admiring their friend’s handiwork.

“Of course I did. I always made snowmen with my broth--” Chara stopped themselves before they could even finish the sentence, suddenly feeling a piercing sensation in their chest.

Frisk however, was far too enthralled with the snowman to catch the last bit of their guide’s sentence. “Chara?” They called, as they patted around the snowman’s body to even out the rough edges.

The brown eyed child had already enough time to recollect themselves so they were able to respond. “What is it?” They asked, walking up towards the snowman as well to help Frisk pat around it.

“Um…” Frisk fidgeted a bit, their scarlet eyes averting their companion’s sharp gaze. “Can you tell me about the Underground? And why are some monsters so eager to hurt us?”

“Because you humans trapped us down here.” Chara was quick and blunt. “After the war between monsters and humans was lost, the monsters were forced into these horrid caverns and trapped for ages by a magical barrier. The barrier surrounds the mountain in its entirety, nothing can ever come out.”

There was a frown slowly growing on their lips. “We make do with what we can, the garbage that flows from Waterfall from the surface, just to survive. Things may _seem_ happy, but do not let that fool you. I know just how eager every monster is to escape this damned mountain and bask in the warmth of the true sunlight once more.”

Frisk was watching the older human carefully as they spoke. “W-What can we do...?”

“Not much at our current state.” Chara answered, dusting off their hands. “The magic monsters possess is simply not powerful enough to shatter the barrier, supposedly the only thing strong enough would be a human SOUL.”

The younger human gulped at that last bit, especially how dark their guide had said it.

“But… the only other human to have ever fallen down was you.” Chara continued with a shrug. “That is beside the point, we still must reach my home and I will be sure to introduce you to my family.”

“I look forward to it…” Frisk said, even more quiet now. They were in deep thought, thinking over all the information Chara had provided for them. _These kind, harmless monsters have been trapped for generations… and there is nothing anyone can do about it?_

“No...” Something sparked inside Frisk, a _burning_ passion. Chara perked up at the sudden words from the younger human. “No, there… there _has_ to be a way, right? We can find it! You and me!”

Frisk grabbed Chara by their hands and held on tight. “We can free the monsters, every single one of them. Then you and your family can finally see the sun rising from the horizon after however long!”

Chara was taken aback by this sudden burst of emotion, they could not even help to control their slowly reddening face. “I… Frisk, I am not sure if we can…” They were not exactly keen on the idea of themselves returning to the surface, but they would do anything for the monsters to see it again.

“Of course we can, I believe we can!” Frisk responded and it was then when whatever this feeling was clicked inside them. “I’m… I’m _determined!_ ”

The older human couldn’t help but smile, albeit crookedly, at their 'prisoner’s' determination. “Okay, okay...” They said with a sigh, holding onto the other’s hands tighter. “We will find a way. But first, we head towards the Capitol… my family will know what to do, perhaps we can even enlist that strange skeleton to assist us - he _did_  claim he was a scientist.”

“Yes! We can do this!” Frisk said gleefully and hugged their companion tight, resulting in them blushing even harder. "As long as I'm with you, I feel like we can do anything!"

“O-Of course, Frisk.” Chara sputtered out, completely red in the face now. Their expression slowly softened though, as did their breathing. _I hope to whatever higher power exists that we can…_


End file.
